Value of new mortgages in Australia falls 21 per cent to GFC levels

Camera IconThe biggest monthly fall in the number of owner-occupier commitments was the 9.5 per cent drop for newly built homes.

The value of new mortgages slipped another 2.1 per cent in January, marking Australia’s biggest annual decline since the global financial crisis.

The value of dwelling commitments excluding refinancing slipped to $17.12 billion in January, according to seasonally adjusted figures released on Tuesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

That made for a 12-month decline of 20.6 per cent, with the total number of owner-occupier mortgage commitments falling 2.6 per cent over the month and 13.6 per cent over the year to 47,407.

“Weaker lending for dwellings again drove much of the overall fall in lending to households, with further falls in lending for investment dwellings and for owner-occupier dwellings in January,” ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman said.

“Reflecting the impact of both supply and demand-side factors, new lending for dwellings is down over 20 per cent from January 2018, the largest through-the-year decline since late 2008.”

The biggest monthly fall in the number of owner-occupier commitments was the 9.5 per cent drop for newly built homes.